Guest column: Candidate sees economy as key issue for state

By Tony Szewczyk
Republican Candidate
17th District 

As I run for Senate, I feel a great urgency about what I’m doing. I’m alarmed at how bad our economy is and that it has been this way for so long. I’m deeply concerned about the enormous weight put on our citizens’  shoulders by ever-increasing inflation and too many taxes.

Now, in our 60s, my wife and I worry about whether we’ll have enough money to get us through our retirement years. 
We’ve saved over the years but inflation is reducing our nest egg more and more. Will we be forced to move away from Connecticut to a “kinder” state? Will my wife have to leave her beloved grandchildren behind? Will I have to sell my ancestral home and move away?

The scariest thing is that, as I look around, I don’t see this same urgency in most people. I get the impression that most people think it will all just work out somehow.  I don’t understand that. If we keep electing the same people, or the same kind of people, to office then how can things just work out?

I remember reading “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.” That Yankee was in that Court because of his intelligence and all of the innovations he could offer. 

Connecticut was famous for its forward thinking and abilities. What happened to that?  I remember seeing the movie "Blade Runner," more than once.
That is how I see Connecticut becoming in the not too distant future. Is that what we want?


Szewczyk is a Derby resident. He is challenging incumbent state Sen. Joseph J.Crisco, Jr., D-Woodbridge, in the November election.